SWEET SASSY MOLLASSIE!!
What a tremendous stack of news I have for you today!!!
CLASSICS ABOUNDS!!! NEW CRITERION!!! OZZY!!!
PRICE DROPS GALORE!!! GRIFFITH MASTERWORKS!!
THE WIDE BLUE ROAD!!!
More and more…
Buena Vista has the first season DVD set of THE OSBOURNES debuting on March 4.
Previous rumors had the set planned for a pre-holiday release, but according to Sharon Osbourne during her ABC interview with Barbara Walters, the news was dropped that it would hit in March. Full details on the set are still forthcoming, but look for each episode in it’s natural form with a 4:3 aspect ratio, a completely unbleeped audio track (we get it broadcast uncensored up here in the Canuck). Extras include 4 unseen bonus episodes and a drinking game.
Also on Buena Vistas March slate is Kieslowski’s RED, WHITE and BLUE trilogy, available as three separate films. Also look for Wayne Wang’s indie faves SMOKE and BLUE IN THE FACE, the cheapo horror sequel STEPFATHER 2: MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY, and a nice chunk of previously unavailable catalogue titles including THE DUKE, BLANK CHECK, MAN OF THE HOUSE, FIRST KID, A KID IN KING ARTHURS COURT, BASIL, GONE FISHIN’, A LOW DOWN DIRTY SHAME, GREEN CARD, the Melanie Griffith remake of BORN YESTERDAY, ONE GOOD COP, BOYS, Christmas classic THE REF and Ben Stiller as a maniacal weight loss guru in HEAVYWEIGHTS. All of these are also scheduled for March 4.
Also look for Buena Vista to do a massive reprice on a plethora of their popular titles including EAST IS EAST, HUMAN TRAFFIC, COLOR OF NIGHT, EVITA, WITH A FRIEND LIKE HARRY, FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE, BEOWULF, THE CIDER HOUSE RULES, ROMY AND MICHELLE, GOOD WILL HUNTING, RUSHMORE, FLUBBER, MIGHTY APHRODITE, NIXON:DIRECTORS CUT, DEAD MAN, DEAD POETS SOCIETY, HIGLANDER: ENDGAME and HIGHLANDER: THE FINAL DIMENSION.
Paramount Home Entertainment has the Box Office underachiever SERVING SARA on deck for January 28. The film will be available separately in both Anamorphic Widescreen and Fullscreen, each with 5.1 DDS and 2.0 Surround audio, a directors commentary, making-of featurette, deleted scenes, outtakes and a trailer.
Paramount also has a new batch of Elvis Presley flicks ready for a January 7 release. Look for FUN IN ACUPULCO, EASY COME EASY GO and GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS. All three feature 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen transfers, English and French mono audio tracks and no extras.
Finishing up Paramount’s January offerings are THE THIN BLUE LIE, MOSTLY MARTHA and the Lennon-McCartney what if? TWO OF US. These three are also in Anamorphic Wide with no extras.
New Line Home Entertainment has the Al Pacino CGI starlet flick SIMONE in the works for January 21. Despite lackluster Box Office, Big Al is getting the “Special Edition” treatment one more time. With a 2.35:1 AW transfer on one side and a Full Screen on the other, the film will feature 5.1 DDS EX and a DTS 6.1 ES track. Look for several featurettes including “Cyber Stardom” and “Simulating Simone”, trailers and DVDRom including screenplay and online material.
Also on January 21, look for the indie hit DINNER RUSH. AW and Fullscreen transfers, 5.1 DDS and 2.0 Surround and a trailer.
Our immensely respectable friends at Kino International have announced yet another landmark set to be released. December 10 see the release of Kino’s D.W. GRIFFITH MASTERWORKS DVD box set. The set will collect Griffith films INTOLERANCE, ORPHANS OF THE STORM, BROKEN BLOSSOMS and, of course, the supremely influential BIRTH OF A NATION. Also included is BIOGRAPH SHORTS, a 360+ minute collection of short films created by the auteur during his time with the Biograph Company studio. These are silent films from the turn of the last century, so they will obviously be presented in Fullscreen only and with mono sound. Extras will include a making-of do*censored*entary for BIRTH OF A NATION, civil war shorts, a feature on “NYC vs. BIRTH OF A NATION”, excerpts from silent films CABIRIA, THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII, prologues and alternate endings, footage of Griffith’s funeral, a radio eulogy by director Erich Von Stroheim, photo galleries and filmed introductions with Orson Welles. An integral, exciting and still controversial piece of film’s earliest history finally available for all to see. Don’t miss it!
Columbia Tristar hits shelves with an Iranian film that has achieved worldwide critical acclaim.
Babak Payami’s film SECRET BALLOT, about a soldier and a female ballot collector on a mission to collect votes throughout a deserted stretch of desert. The film will be presented in Anamorphic Widescreen with its original Farsi language track. English and French subtitles will be included, but no extras. Look for this one on January 7.
Image Entertainment has announced another selection of titles coming for January. Three new volumes of their KIDSONGS series will be available on January 7, as will three new installments of the Sergio Martino spaghetti western series – A MAN CALLED BLADE, DJANGO KILL! And RUN MAN RUN – also available as a box set with the original DJANGO film. Volumes 1 and 2 of their new ROCKTHOLOGY series will also premiere on January 7, as will THE TWILIGHT ZONE COLLECTION volumes 3 and 4, containing 18 discs(!) of freaky deaky for you late night fans.
Milestone Film & Video and Turner Classic Movies are bringing a classic of Italian cinema back into the limelight when they release THE WIDE BLUE ROAD to DVD on January 14. This is the directorial debut of Gillo Pontecorvo, famed Italian director of THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS and BURN!, and stars the great Yves Montand in one of his most acclaimed performances as a humble fisherman in an Italian village on the Adriatic, struggling to support his family. DVD specs are still forthcoming, but it is still something to look forward to, if you love Italian Cinema or just fine films.
Last, but never least, those wizards of digital at Criterion have announced another fantastic set.
THE KILLERS will be available on January 28, featuring both the 1946 Robert Siodmak version of the Hemingway story, and the 1964 remake by Don Seigel. The 1946 version stars Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner and is considered a high point in the Film Noir movement of the forties. The 1964 version stars the much more volatile combination of Lee Marvin and Angie Dickinson. Each film will be presented in the original 1.33:1 Fullscreen ratio with 1.0 Mono audio and no extras. Nevertheless, these two classics, based on the same story are well worth the price of admission. Cool.
